The registry would reportedly attract as much as a $1 billion price tag.

It generates about $535 million in reporting fees, earns more than $90 million a year from business names and searches for corporate details, and carries annual costs of about $140 million, according to The Australian.

The sale could lead to a restructure of fees that could produce savings for small businesses, which mostly register their details with ASIC, paying an annual fee.

On the other hand large financial services and credit providers may be charged on a user-pays basis for the services.

One of the government agencies hit hardest by the budget is the Australian Taxation Office, which will lose more than 2,300 staff by 2014-15.

A Roy Morgan survey conducted after the budget announcement shows the large majority of Australian consumers (88%) and businesses (74%) overwhelmingly feel the budget will not benefit them.

COMMENTS

by Denise Brailey BFCSA (Inc)16/05/2014 12:06:34 PM

ASIC should now use the $1 billion to pay compensation to all the victims of shonky loan approvals the Lenders have made megabucks from. ASIC collected the data and will now sell off to whomever wants the detail.Time for ASIC to pay the Piper. I noticed Budget set to carve up ASIC. Should have been executed long ago. We now need a Federal Consumer Protection Bureau with Serious Fraud Unit.